Consumers continually seek to improve the appearance of their skin and in particular to reduce visible signs of skin aging. Unwanted signs include lines and wrinkles, skin sagging or atrophy, loss of suppleness, thickness, plumpness, tautness, elasticity, resiliency, and firmness, and there remains a need for products that combat such signs of aging and, more generally, that provide anti-aging and/or anti-wrinkle effects.
Recent studies have revealed that dermal fibroblasts undergo morphology changes and cell body collapse in both chronically and photo-aged skin. See, e.g., Varani et al., 2004, J. Invest. Dermatol. 122:1471:9; and Varani et al., 2006, Am. J. Pathol. 168: 1861-8. Such alterations can lead to coarse, rough, and wrinkled appearance, which are characteristics of aged skin. Further studies suggest that collagen degradation along with altered integrin and focal adhesion molecules are factors contributing to the loss of a functional dermal collagen matrix, with the consequence of cell body collapse due to a loss of mechanical tension between fibroblasts and the matrix. See, e.g., Fisher et al., 2008, Arch. Dermatol. 144: 666-72.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide new approaches for combating signs of skin aging. It is a further object of the invention to provide new compositions and methods to improve the overall appearance of skin, including treating, reversing, and/or preventing signs of aging, including signs of aging associated with degradation of the skins' collagen and/or elastin matrices, using effective amounts of compositions that stimulate the expression of mRNA encoding collagen and/or elastin.
The foregoing discussion is presented solely to provide a better understanding of nature of the problems confronting the art and should not be construed in any way as an admission as to prior art nor should the citation of any reference herein be construed as an admission that such reference constitutes “prior art” to the instant application.